


Stellar Black Heart

by thawinoakenshield



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bruce Banner & Thor Friendship, Dark!Thor, Gen, Past Brainwashing, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Thor (2011), Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Post-Thor: The Dark World, Supergiant (Marvel) - Freeform, Thor (2011) - Freeform, Thor (Marvel) is Not Stupid, Unreliable Narrator, potentially part of a series?, this is not romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 23:30:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16169003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thawinoakenshield/pseuds/thawinoakenshield
Summary: After their crushing defeat at the hands of Thanos, life on Earth would never be the same again. Due to the destruction of the Infinity Gauntlet, the remaining members of the Black Order could not rest easily - they had seen their colleagues crushed by these so-called Avengers and were afraid of what could happen if they should rally again. So they turned the Strongest Avenger against them.





	Stellar Black Heart

It was amusing, really. Looking back on the chain of events that had lead him here. The death of his brother, the dangling of his once-love, the destruction of his home, the offer of putting an end to the bloodshed for now until the end of time… It had been too good to refuse.

Although the illusion had been lifted and he knew that the woman had been nothing more than a shade, her effects still lingered in his conscious, gnawing away at him like a parasite. Those in the Order called her Supergiant – a being of immense power, not limited to the psionic that she had employed against him before her untimely death.

Of course, Thor knew that he had been bewitched. He simply saw it in a different way. Before, he had been steeped in the influence of his Father and, with propaganda running back centuries, he did not blame himself. She, on coming into his life, had opened his eyes. Revealed truths to him that he could not un-see.

For that, she had been killed by those he had once called friends. And he? He was imprisoned. The humans thought him enthralled, that his enlightenment was little more than trickery and he would shake off the deception to return to them and their broken world once more.

The idea made him laugh. Alone in his undisguised cell, his chest began to shake with equally undisguised laughter. There was no return for him now. He had thrown in his lot with her and that was where he would die. Not as a lapdog to the Midgardians, not as a fool believing in hollow peace and an empty land but as a free man. Unchained – be it to Asgard or Midgard or any realm in between. By casting them aside and forsaking the oaths he had made in his youthful optimism, he was finally free,

Taking up that burden again had no value. His old friends – his Avengers – they had shown their true colours. Stark had withdrawn within himself, buried in alcohol and technology that was ludicrously outdated. Before, Thor had made an attempt. He had tried to draw out the spirit of his old friend, tried to rally him to fight alongside them once more but to no avail. Stark’s self-loathing had consumed him.

So, he had moved on. Barton was nowhere to be found. Natasha had shown faith in him with words alone. Empty words, uttered with a forked tongue and hooded eyelids. The Captain, Steve Rogers, had been shaken to his core by their defeat and no amount of encouragement had managed to arouse anything more tangible than a pained smile. Not to him, at least. Between the three of them, they served to remind Thor how Other he was. That despite their shared history and the love he had foolishly invested in them, he would never belong.

Banner had stood with him the longest. He had been the one who had stood by Thor, the one who had witnessed his joy when it appeared that Jane had not been reduced to dust. Out of them all, Thor reasoned, Banner was the one who would have worked the hardest in trying to convince the rest of them of his innocence. When this cell no longer contained him, he would have to thank Banner. Even if his judgement was misguided and his belief ill-placed, it would undoubtedly have done some good.

Perhaps Banner’s good word was what had ensured that Thor still received meals throughout the day.

Leaning his head back against the wall, Thor heard the oncoming of soft footfalls and opened his eyes. What he saw had him laughing once more – a cold, amused chuckle that was as loud as it had always been, if not as good-natured. “Oh, how desperate they must have been to ask for your help!”

Because in front of him stood Loki. Unmarked, unharmed, neck-in-tact Loki. How long it had been since that fateful event. The trickster stood on the opposite side of the reinforced glass, hands behind his back and expression impassive save for the pity in his eyes. And, if Thor saw him correctly, the faintest tremble in the hard line of his mouth. “Have you come for advice? I’m sorry I was a better villain in six months than you could be in six millennia, but you must be accustomed to failing by now.”

The goal here was to evoke a rise out of him. Alone, escape attempts had proved futile but with aid? It was a possibility. He knew his brother’s sore spots; the man had never attempted to hide them, constantly whining about how bitterly unfair life was and how awfully he had been treated. Thor had weathered it all.

“The cage doesn’t suit you, brother,” commented Loki, a vague hand gesture at his setting before both returned to behind his back. Aware of himself being scrutinised, Thor stood up and walked toward the glass so that he could be face to face with him.

For a moment, Thor merely stared back at him. “Perhaps the only way I can be certain of your death is if I commit the act myself, _brother_ ,” he said, pleasantly surprised by the way Loki flinched. It would seem that whoever had recruited Loki for this conversation had failed to inform him just how much had changed since their last meeting. Or perhaps Loki was here of his own volition, unaware save for what opinions he could glean and deductions he could attempt to make.

“You couldn’t do it,” said Loki, after a pause that was slightly too long. “You’ve had plenty of opportunities to see me dead. No matter what is going through your head, you’ll never be strong enough to kill me yourself.”

Thor shook his head, the edge of his lip curling. “But I did not know then what I know now. I still had this belief in a rigid right and wrong – the Midgardians think we are archaic and, in that respect, I was. There was no room for flexibility.” Except for when Loki was involved. The mischief he had always allowed to slip through his fingers. “If you were truly certain, you would step in here and face me yourself. You fear my strength as much as you always have – I bet even you are unsure why you came here.”

That struck a nerve. As if there was something stuck at the back of his younger brother’s throat, something he wanted to say. Some difficult sentiment he wanted to share. “I only came to witness how far you had fallen. Imprisoned by humans, it’s embarrassing.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Thor folded his arms. “I will not be here much longer. And I was looking for a new goal after I exact my vengeance on those who killed my partner so my gratitude to you. Scouring the galaxy for your hiding place shall be an interesting task.” He paused to draw breath, blue eyes fixed on Loki’s. “But are you not proud? Imagine all we could have accomplished together if I had been aware of this truth in the days Before.”

There was a slight sparkle behind Loki’s eye and Thor grinned at him, raising a hand to point at it. “I see you, brother. The irony does not escape you and neither do the parallels. Have at it – I know you have been waiting for the day you could lord a success over me.” Thor’s arms were outstretched, a cold smile on his face as he issued his invitation. “Have at it!”

Silence. But not for long. “I can’t believe you succumbed to this kind of trick. I always believed your will to be stronger than that-”

“There is no trick,” Thor cut across earnestly, shaking his head. “Don’t think me a fool. I’ve spent time with you, I would recognise sorcery. The only skill she employed were words.”

“And have not we all employed words?” asked Loki, jaw tight and tone sharp. “If anyone is being a fool, it’s you. You place your hope in a vanquished master who would see the universe dead, your stubbornness has cost you your liberty and your lack of subtlety will ensure that you never breathe the free air again!”

The words hung in the air and Thor could see that Loki’s chest was rising and falling faster than usual. That one of his fists was clenched and that he had drawn closer to the glass. So, Thor took a step forward, pressed his palm against the glass and let his features soften. Pointedly looked between his hand and Loki and then back to his hand. Slowly, Loki reached out. “Brother, I-”

But he did not get to finish. As soon as Loki’s guard was down, Thor brought his other hand down against the glass in a tight fist, the collision making a resounding thud that, whilst it did not make Loki jump, did ensure that he drew in a hasty breath.

“Save your words. They mean as little to me as you do,” he said scathingly before allowing his hands to drop back to his sides. “Tell them you think Bruce will be able to get through to me. That I haven’t forgiven you for letting me believe you were dead and that I seem beyond reason and struck by such a madness that even you are unaware of.” Then he turned his back on Loki, walking further into the blank cell. “Tell them that you are the last person who could ever hold sway with me and the only thing you accomplished today was adding your name to the end of the list of people that I’m going to end.”

After that, there was no more sound. Thor stared at the wall, the wall stared back and when he did eventually turn around again, Loki was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> If I get more muse for this, I might add in more but I just had inspiration for writing a darker turn on one of the brightest characters in the MCU so this happened. Feel free to make requests!


End file.
